Mini Chocolate Candy Cane Cheesecakes

It’s that time of year again. The one time each year when I make some sort of peppermint treat for all my mint-loving friends. This year I was trying to choose how best to incorporate some form of mint into our holiday party spread and the idea of a mini cheesecake struck me. After all, the peanut butter version I made a couple of years ago was a huge hit. Just as expected, these went over well with everyone but me. (And Andrew, come to think of it. He may have inherited my tastebuds.) These are a quick and easy festive treat is sure to please all the mint-lovers in your life. And me, I’ll just admire them for their good looks.

Ingredients

For the crust:

1 cup chocolate cookie crumbs (I use Oreos)*

2 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted

1 tbsp. sugar

For the cheesecake:

12 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature

½ cup sour cream

2/3 cup sugar

1 large egg

1 tsp. peppermint extract

Pinch of salt

Pink food coloring (optional)

25 white chocolate candy cane kisses, chopped

For the topping:

4 oz. bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

½ cup heavy cream

1 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature

Coarsely crushed candy canes, for garnish

Directions

01

Preheat the oven to 350˚ F. Lightly spray a 24-well silicone mini muffin pan with cooking spray. (If using a non-flexible pan, line with mini cupcake liners.) To make the crust, combine the chocolate cookie crumbs, melted butter and sugar in a small bowl. Mix with a fork until evenly blended. Divide the crust mixture between the wells of the prepared pan, about 2-3 teaspoons in each. Press the crumb mixture into a flat layer on the bottom of the well. (The bottom of a shot glass or flat utensil is great for this. I use the flat bottom of my whisk handle.) Bake for 10 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire rack.

02

Reduce the oven temperature to 300˚ F. To prepare the filling, combine the cream cheese and sour cream in the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat on medium-high speed until smooth and well blended. Add in the sugar and mix until incorporated, about 1 minute more, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Blend in the egg, peppermint extract and salt. If desired, tint the batter light pink with food coloring. Continue to beat until the mixture is completely smooth. Fold in the candy cane kisses with a spatula.

03

Divide the mixture evenly over the cookie crumb crusts and smooth the tops slightly. Bake just until set, about 22 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through baking. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool in the pan to room temperature. Once completely cool, transfer the pan to the refrigerator and chill thoroughly before removing the cheesecakes, at least 3 hours.

04

Once the cheesecakes are well chilled, carefully remove them from the pan. To make the ganache, place the chopped chocolate in a medium bowl. In a small saucepan, bring the cream to a simmer over medium heat. Once simmering, remove from the heat and immediately pour over the chocolate. Let stand 1-2 minutes. Whisk in small circular motions until a smooth ganache has formed. Whisk in the butter until completely incorporated. Let the mixture stand at room temperature until slightly thickened for piping onto the cheesecakes. (Speed this process in the refrigerator or freezer, but be sure to whisk every 10 minutes or so.) Once the ganache has thickened, transfer to a pastry bag fitted with a decorative tip and pipe onto the cheesecakes. Sprinkle with crushed candy canes. Refrigerate until the ganache is set.

05

*If using Oreos, it’s not necessary to remove the filling before grinding in the food processor.

The cuteness factor of these mini desserts kills me! You certainly know how to take things to the next level. :) I think that anything in ‘mini’ form tastes better anyway (even if you don’t like the mint combo ;) )

Jaci

what a beautiful color the cheesecake takes — and of course it looks absolutely delicious!

Louann Zundel

These look sooo good! I’m not familiar with white chocolate peppermint kisses, are they like Hershey’s kisses?

Annie @Annie’s City Kitchen

Eeep! How adorable! These seem like one of those treats that you can eat 10 of but the calories don’t count since they’re mini.

annieseats

Yep, was just trying to be generic :)

Liz @ Tip Top Shape

I absolutely love this!! I was trying to think of something to bring to my study group this weekend and I’m pretty sure this is the winner!

Liz N.

I am making this for my daughter’s 1st grade holiday party this week. So cute and so simple. Best of all, I have all the ingredients already! Thanks for another home run Annie!

Those are completely adorable! Any suggestions for an alternative to the candy-cane kisses though? I don’t think they exist in Ireland and I’d love to make some of these mini-treats to amp up the cute-factor over Christmas.

annieseats

You could probably just mix in chopped candy canes instead. Enjoy!

Loretta E

Nothing like mini cheesecakes to keep things in control…I’m planning a big cheesecake for my hubby’s birthday this week, so won’t be practicing control anytime soon!

Made these yesterday and had LOTS of filling left over (probably enough for another batch) did I do something wrong? They are awesome though! Also made Pecan Pie Thumbprints…OMG… JUST LIKE Mini Pecan Pies!

Poelman Family

Made these but mine ended up dimple-y in the muffin tins (used liners too)…not sure what happened

Ann P.

SO pretty, Annie!! :) Even if you didn’t eat them, there’s plenty to enjoy just be looking!

foodess

They’re so pretty! I love chocolate & peppermint… and I like your festive cupcake liners!

Holly

I had lots of extra filling too… ended up making another batch of cookie crust and made 48!

Tracy

Totally adorable! Mini cheesecakes are the perfect party food, it’s just too much work to cut up a whole cheesecake all the time!

Sonja / A Couple Cooks

I can personally attest that these are amazing! I’m a huge peppermint fan, so these hit the spot for me (maybe someday, Annie?!).

AmyT

The first batch I made caved in at the center and cracked (covered with icing they look fine, but less pretty than the second batch). I did some research, and apparently if you but the cupcake tin in a “bath” of water, in the oven, this cooks the cheesecake gently to avoid cracking and caving. Basically fill a deep pan with water, and set the cupcake tin in it so that it covers the bottoms of the cupcake wells. I did this for the second batch and it helped a lot!

These were the perfect Christmas dessert, especially with ALL the food available. Just a bite is all you need (or, if you’re my sister-in-law, 6 is all you need – ha!) after the huge dinners. For me, the filling was enough for a double batch, so I made another batch of the crust and doubled the ganache and it made exactly 48, however I know my crust was much thicker than yours. Still was excellent!